Leading global consultant, business author, A-list blogger and podcaster David Maister presents a podcast of highlights from his speaking engagements covering his four main topic areas: Strategy, Management, Client Relations, and Careers.

Strategy and the Fat Smoker

As a new feature to my podcast, I will be including a link to the executive summary of each chapter of my book as a pdf. I encourage you to forward these to friends and colleagues who may be interested in the materials covered in this series.

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What in law firm culture differentiates itself from virtually any other type of firm in the realms of management, collaboration and relationship building? In this episode, we explore what makes law firms different and what can be done to improve the s

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Often, management neglects its own stake in the betterment of the organization as a whole. We will look into ways that managers can become accountable for their own work and improvement and serve as an example to the whole of the organization.

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The key to great coaching lies in a persons ability get another to commit to goals on their own terms. This episode looks into ensuring that those in managerial roles have the attitudes, skills, and behaviors of a skilled coach.

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Too often, companies look to training as a stand-alone solution for behavioral changes in their employees. However, training is a wonderful last step in a committed process towards a common goal, but an almost useless first step.

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With so many approaches an organization can take to management, only one of these approaches will, in the long run, produce enduring profitability and abundant business generation. Why are so few firms willing to invest the time?

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The basis for any successful marketing effort is the ability of the provider to convince the buyer that they are truly interested in them and are genuinely trying to help. This is however, rarely the focus of marketing discussions within any firm.

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Trusting relationships in business are built on the same formulae as trusting relationships in personal life. We will look into some of the cues one can take from personal life to enhance ones professional standing.

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The Fat Smoker Syndrome, the inability to do the things we know will help us accomplish our long-term goals, finds no better illustration than in the area of client relations. We will look into different types of client relations and relative merits of

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For any organization to achieve a unified, forward momentum, it must first have a solid set of rules and goals for its members to agree upon. We will discuss a number of integrating concepts aimed at getting all players on the same page.

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Firm-wide strategy often assumes firm-wide consensus. However, it is rarely the case that all players within any given firm are team oriented. We will discuss some of the widely held player preferences and prescribe alternatives in dealing with them.

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A career path is rarely a series of logical steps towards resulting in an ultimate goal, but is more often a series of experiments seen through by the drive and determination to find the next challenge. We will explore this principle in this podcast.

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One of the hardest things for a professional to do is to turn down work and everyone has an excuse as to why they shouldnâ€™t. We will learn why the refusal of work that is contrary to your strategy is essential to building a distinguished and special

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A strategy, like any other lifestyle altering decision, requires the discipline stick to the plan. Without this determination, most strategic planning is a complete waste of time. We will discuss the tools necessary to do what is obvious but not easy